


The Date

by Rei382



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Confession, Get Together, M/M, Not Established, Pining, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29431719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei382/pseuds/Rei382
Summary: With everything booked and paid for, Roy's date for Valentine's Day had cancelled on him. Edward was kind enough to accompany him as a friend.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 90
Collections: RoyEd Valentine Gift Exchange 2021





	The Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoU2019](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoU2019/gifts).



> My Valentine's Day gift exchange for [SoU2019](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sou2019). I hope you enjoy it dear <3
> 
> You wanted a get together fic and I hope this one is to your liking <3  
> I... went a bit over the wc limit ^^" but I didn't know how to make this shorter without ruining it. I was already cutting important things like what actually went on in their conversation ^^"
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day!

Roy looked at his ‘date’ who was sitting next to him in the car and glaring at him. This was not how Roy had imagined his Valentine’s Day date going.

“Yes, Elric, that’s the plan,” he said and tried to keep the impatience and bitterness out of his voice. Maybe it was a mistake to accept this offer, considerate and kind as it seemed at first. He really should have known that there had to be some kind of a sting to Elric’s suggestion. In his innocence, he thought that being forced to pay for the young man’s food was all there was to it. But apparently, mockery and being extra annoying was a part of his subordinate’s plan, too.

“But it sucks. You know that, right?” Elric asked matter-of-factly.

Roy did not. In his honest opinion his plan for the night was perfect: the date was supposed to start with a wine tasting experience at a small winery owned by a friend of his aunt; nothing too fancy, but nice enough to let Charlize – the lady he’d been dating for a few weeks and had cancelled on him out of nowhere this morning – know what a sophisticated man he was. He had already paid a deposit for that. Being the nephew of a dear friend was no help on a busy evening such as Valentine’s Day. Then, he had planned a dinner at one of his favorite restaurants in town, Manzo e Vite: another deposit that Roy would have had to say goodbye to if the elder Elric didn’t come with him. Then his plan was to take a walk down the promenade of Central City’s river which was usually decorated with floats during this time of the year. 

“Maybe in your opinion it is not a good plan for a date, but in my opinion – and I think for most  _ sane _ people – it is a rather good plan.”

“Well, maybe  _ sane _ people need to try some more exciting things,” Elric replied.

Roy inhaled deeply and closed his eyes momentarily. He wasn’t sure if it wasn’t better to just let go of the money he spent on this evening, than spend it with Elric, if he was just going to complain all the time. “No one forced you to come,” Roy said.

“Right. But you promised me free food. And you looked so miserable,” for some reason, his smirk at saying these words wasn’t encouraging one bit. “I couldn’t just let you keep brooding. All I’m sayin’ is just that maybe you need to think of better plans, next time. Did it ever occur to you that she cancelled because the plan was lame?”

“Charlize didn’t even know what the plan  _ was _ ,” Roy replied coldly. Even though it was nice of Elric to care about him, he hated being pitied; he hated being perceived as anything less than absolutely perfect. But apparently, Charlize cancelling on him had had its effect on him, no matter how much he had tried to hide it.

Or perhaps his team just knew him too well by now. “Had it occurred to you that you’re the strange one?”

Elric arched his eyebrow at him. “Nope.” He turned to look forward at the road in front of them where cars traveled by every now and then. “Well then, are we going or not?”

Roy’s hold on the steering wheel tightened so much that his knuckles were visible. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“I promised to come with you. So let’s go. A winery, you said, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well at least some wine is going to make the rest of the evening much better.”

Really, if he was going to act this way… “I didn’t even start the car yet. We’re right at your apartment’s entrance. You can go back home.”

“Oh, come on!” Elric turned to look at him again. For a short moment Roy felt his stare on him, and then he saw him sinking in his seat. “I’m just joking, alright? I mean yeah, your plan is sappy and honestly I think if you would’ve taken her to a cool theme park or something like that she would have definitely come.”

Roy loosened his hold and took another deep breath to calm himself before he turned to look at Elric. His amber eyes were fixed on him, big and sincere. Gone was the mockery; at least, most of it. Roy sighed. Yes, he had a romantic soul: more than most people expected from a high-ranking military officer, and especially one with the reputation of a player such as himself. But he didn’t think it a bad thing, really. He sighed. “What would you have done, then? Gone to a theme park? Ride the Ferris Wheels?”

Elric’s eyebrow rose a little. “Ferris Wheels?  _ Please _ , Mustang. Nothing less than a roller coaster will do. Haunted houses are fun, too. But I guess it’s a bit too  _ wild _ for you,” he smirked, and then his expression changed and he looked somewhat serious. “I think maybe a planetarium visit could be nice. Even for oldies like you,” he winked.

Roy had to admit, at least to himself, that he was surprised – even though after a second he realized he shouldn’t be. Elric was, above all else, a scientist. His flamboyant appearance, while slightly dulled over the years as he grew up, was only the very surface of his personality.

Also, a planetarium didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

He thought for a moment before he spoke again. “Do you want to skip the wine, then? The restaurant reservation is set, and I’m sure you’d still want the food I promised you, but we could go to the planetarium if you prefer.” Surely it wouldn’t be as busy there as anywhere else would be. Elric was the biggest nerd of Central City; and he could almost guarantee it.

He watched as the younger man surveyed him. “Nuh, it’s alright. Let’s go get drunk. I’m more of a beer person but I mean, wine’s good too. And cheese is good.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll try being fancy for a day,” he smiled. “Come on, if you don’t start driving we’ll be late.”

He had a point. Roy pulled the car into driving gear. They did have to leave if they wanted to get there on time. “They have some excellent wine. And great cheese, too.”

He hit the gas and started driving.

The winery visit went better than Roy had expected. True, Elric’s taste was hardly fitting for such a sophisticated drink; but he kept his comments for Roy’s ears only, and Roy had to admit that they were funny, and made him smile more often than not – and one especially embarrassing incident when Elric had shared his thoughts with Roy while he sipped wine and Roy almost choked as he couldn’t hold back his laughter. The alcohol also seemed to have made them both less stressed about the whole situation. As he was driving to the restaurant their conversation flowed much better than it did before. Roy no longer regretted taking Elric’s offer to substitute for Charlize, and thought that this evening might end up not being a complete fail, after all.

He pulled the car to a stop at the first parking spot he found that was in the area of  _ Manzo e Vite _ ; as expected, finding a spot was not easy; tonight was expected to be busy. And as they made their way from the car to the restaurant, Roy’s expectation was fulfilled to completion: a line of over a dozen couples had extended from the restaurant’s door and reached around the curve of the street. But Roy did not let it deter him: he walked past those people, convinced that his reservation would mean they didn’t have to wait the whole line.

They got to the entrance, where a tired-looking but smiling nonetheless hostess stood with a list in her arm. She greeted them, and asked if they had a reservation.

“Yes. Please check under ‘Mustang’,” he told her confidently. Next to him he could see Edward peeking into the restaurant, surveying the atmosphere and the amount of people sitting inside.

“Just one moment sir,” replied the hostess and then her eyes delved into the list. It didn’t take her long before she looked up again with a sweet smile. “I found it. Excellent. Please go to the end of the line, sirs, and as soon as there’s a table ready we will be sure to get you to it.”

Her words took Roy by surprise and he frowned, confused. “To the end of the line? Do you mean that we will have to wait?”

She looked a bit taken aback, but resumed her smile, tired as it was, almost immediately. “Why, yes, sir. It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’re very busy.”

“Oh, yes, I understand,” Roy said as politely as he could. “Which is why I made sure to make a reservation in advance. If you will take another look you will see that we are right on time – “

“Yes, sir, I’m aware,” she replied with her first sign of impatience. She glanced behind his shoulder where Roy assumed there were more clients arriving. “But as you can see, we are very busy, and there’s a line. If you had not had a reservation, sir, you could not enter the line. Now, please, if you will…”

Next to him, Roy felt Elric moving impatiently. Roy felt his own annoyance rising in him; but he was a trained military man. A high-ranking officer. And he could be civil about this, even if it was not fair. “How long would you say the wait is, miss?”

The young woman seemed thoughtful as she looked at the line and the names on her list. “Probably about an hour, or an hour and a half, sir. But please, if you will, go to the end of the line – “

“Over an hour wait?” Roy asked, astonished. “Even though I’ve made a reservation for five minutes from now?”

Elric swore next to him when he heard the severity of the issue.

Yes, they were after some cheese tasting; but that did not mean that over an hour wait – not including the time it would take them to place an order and to  _ get _ that order, which was bound to be a lengthy wait considering how busy the night was – was something that could be acceptable. Not by Roy, who would not have gotten to where he was had he not been a patient man, and definitely not by Elric, who Roy assumed would be much less willing to wait.

“Yes, sir, that is exactly what I said. If you would like to wait then please join the line, or if you wish to go someplace else then please do so, but don’t hold up my line – “

“But we can’t get another reservation for Valentine’s on such a short notice, miss.”

“Well, wait, then,” she snapped at him.

Roy could tell that his insisting was annoying her – but her demand made no sense. He glanced at Elric, who seemed to be getting more annoyed by the second. He couldn’t blame him; he felt rather frustrated himself.

“Maybe we could just get some fast food or something, I really don’t care, Mustang.”

“But I paid a deposit,” he told him, and turned back to the hostess. “You requested me to place a deposit in order to secure my table for today. Waiting two hours for our dinner is unacceptable, that is way too long. Isn’t there anything you can do?” remaining polite and patient was becoming more and more challenging. It certainly didn’t help that behind him he could hear the newcomers starting to get impatient with the holdup, as well.

The young girl looked at him, and then sighed in annoyance. “Please wait a moment, sir, I’ll see what I can do,” she said, and then disappeared inside the restaurant.

“They seriously made you pay and now they won’t give us a table?” Elric asked. He looked astonished at the thought.

“Paying a deposit on such a busy night is a common practice, but I would expect that at the very least they wouldn’t have made us wait so long,” Roy replied. He started to feel nervous about making Elric wait, as well. The thought that it was lucky that he was facing this situation with a friend rather than with his real date crossed his mind; but it was closely followed by the thought that he felt bad for having Elric suggest to come with him on his planned date, and now he wasn’t even able to get him the dinner he’d promised him.

“Well, I conclude that they suck, and honestly, we should just go somewhere else,” Elric said.

“I wasn’t trying to negotiate with her when I told her there was no chance of us getting another reservation on such a short notice,” Roy noted. “No place that is at a decent level would be able to accept us now.”

“Then we can go for some pizza or something. Or just take me home,” Elric shrugged. “It’s not like we’re on a real date or anything.”

He was right. Of course he was right.

Then why did Roy feel a twinge of regret at the thought of giving up and driving Edward home?

Before he could ponder about this, the hostess came back, looking thoroughly annoyed now, but still wearing her smile – which looked even more fake. “I can’t let you skip the line, sir, but if you are willing to make your order a take-out I can shorten the waiting time to only twenty minutes after you place your order,” she said. A take-out. That meant they would have to find a place to dine, and other than their respective homes, Roy couldn’t think of anywhere that could fit. But at least then he wouldn’t completely lose his deposit. “Would you like to do that, sirs?” She handed him two menus.

Roy looked at Edward. “It’s your decision.” He hardly could force any decision on him; he had already done enough.

“Me?” Edward seemed surprised. “Well…” he thought for a second. “You know what? Sure, why not. I mean, you already planned the lamest date in the history of dating, and there was only one thing missing from it,” he smirked as he paused for dramatic measures. “A picnic. All lame dates have a picnic. And in this weather, I’m sure we’ll have enough space to sit at a park,  _ without _ being forced to wait hours,” he narrowed his eyes at the hostess, and then turned back to Roy. “I think Philosophers’ Park is close enough, isn’t it?”

Roy thought about this for a moment. He didn’t like the idea. He booked a table, and the atmosphere – and the heating – were a part of the cost of the meal, as he saw it. But it didn’t look like he’d had much choice: getting a table meant waiting for over an hour, in the cold; wasn’t it better to just have the food out in the cold, too? He was an alchemist, after all; he could produce some heating if needed. And as Edward said, out in the park it was more likely that they would at least be able to chat than at the busy restaurant.

He reached over and grabbed the menus. “We will take a look,” he said. He then took a step to the side and pulled Edward along with him before handing him one of the menus. “I’m sorry,” he looked at Edward.

“What for?” he took the offered menu and started surveying it.

Roy glanced around them; the couple that arrived after them seemed to have accepted their fate more gracefully than him and Edward as he saw them walking towards the end of the line. “For this,” he said when his look returned to Edward. “I promised you a fancy dinner.”

He saw the amber eyes lift to watch him. “And you’re getting me one. Just not inside this ritzy place. Speaking of which, I don’t have a budget, right?”

Roy couldn’t help but chuckle. After the charade of this restaurant he could hardly limit Edward’s choices. “Choose whatever you like, Edward.” He didn’t even realize that he was going to use Edward’s first name; but now that he had, he realized the word felt natural on his lips.

For a second, he thought that Edward might react to that somehow. There was a curious glint to his eyes; but it was only for a fleeting second. White teeth flashed as Edward grinned at him. “Just remember you said that when I place my order.”

“I’ll remember, don’t worry.”

It took them a few more minutes but eventually the dishes were chosen, and Roy walked over to the hostess to place their order. He was not surprised when Edward had chosen the most expensive dish on the menu. He paid, and then walked back to Edward, who had found himself a phone booth to lean on, to wait.

“They said it will be ready in about half an hour. Do you want to wait here, or inside?”

Edward looked at him as if he just dropped on him from the moon, or something. “I’m not going in there,” he gestured with his head. “Too busy. Too noisy. Plus, they annoyed me.”

Roy had to agree with him; despite the cool weather, he did not exactly want to wait inside, either. “Alright,” he said.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. The cold, the need to wait, the frustration about the situation and the constant murmur of the people who were still waiting in line for the restaurant made thinking about a topic to talk about nearly impossible. Roy wanted to get their food and head somewhere quieter. He had no idea that  _ Menzo _ would act this way; he’d eaten there many times, and never had they forced him to wait longer than ten minutes to get his reserved table. They were always kind, and the customer service was good. He’d never gone there on Valentine’s, though. This was the first year in many that he was supposed to have a date for lovers’ holiday, having been busy with work most of the time. He supposed he was lucky, in a way, that Charlize couldn’t come with him, after all. It was supposed to be their fourth date; and he doubted she would’ve been happy with him had she been in this situation. She was the absolute opposite of Edward in some aspects; she was a classy, serious girl, and would never settle for anything less than a high-end restaurant, and most likely an hour wait would not have impressed her.

With Edward… he didn’t need to impress him. They’ve known each other for long enough; knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And he was here with him because he felt bad about Roy spending his holiday alone.

“Thank you, Edward,” Roy said. Better late than never.

Edward looked at him. “Hmm? You’re welcome?” he looked as if he didn’t understand what Roy was talking about.

“You didn’t have to come with me today.”

“Oh,  _ that _ ,” he seemed amused. “I know I didn’t. But I mean. You looked down and, you know, free food. Not your fault dinner’s a bust,” he shrugged. “The whole squad noticed you were excited about today and it’s not like I got any better plans. I don’t really celebrate all these gooey sticky sweet stuff. Don’t care about it. But you do.”

He didn’t say it, but Roy could read between the lines. He knew that his team – all of them – were his men. They’ve all risked their lives for him before, supported him in his mission to become Amestris’s Fuhrer, and still did. But there was a difference between caring for him professionally, and being considerate of him as a human being. For some reason, he never expected Edward to care like that. He looked at him.

Suddenly, Roy realized that during the past few years, Edward had matured. He still had his bold mannerism, but it was more refined now. He no longer seemed to feel the need to constantly prove himself, and, having succeeded in his mission to restore his brother’s body, he was more relaxed. Roy had felt all these changes when, after a few years of being off the radar, Edward returned to work with him in the office, but not in this way. He was still a loose bullet, but he was easier to command, if he gave him the full explanation of  _ why _ he had to do something, and the ‘why’ was worthy in his opinion. He seemed to be much more patient and willing to at least listen. Not to mention that he had clearly grown from a child into a rather attractive young man. Gone was the adolescence chubbiness in his face; his features were sharper, and, when he forgot to or didn’t have time to shave, stubble decorated his lower jaw. How come Roy had missed that for the whole year since Edward had returned to Central City to work with him?

Edward’s eyebrow arched at him and Roy realized that he was staring. Those kinds of thoughts were hardly appropriate; and they had no right appearing in his head like that. Roy was dating Charlize, who was a nice, good looking girl, and Edward was his subordinate. Adult or not, Roy had no right to have such thoughts about him.

“I appreciate it,” he said, trying to move past the fact he was just staring at him.

Edward kept looking at him for a short moment as if he was examining him; but eventually he seemed to have changed his mind about Roy’s weirdness as he just shrugged and looked at the restaurant. “Looks like our food’s finally here,” he said, and Roy turned to look at the same direction too.

Indeed, a boy who looked about the same age as Edward was when he beat The Gate was walking hurriedly towards them with two paper bags in his hands.

“Mr. Mustang?” he asked, and looked down to the receipt to read out the orders. “One Song of the Ocean and one Orange Blossom, as well as one Grand Noir bottle?”

“Yes, thank you.” Roy offered a polite smile as he relieved the waiter from his luggage. He handed the bags to Edward before reaching inside his pocket and pulling out some coins to give to the waiter, who thanked him, wished them a nice meal and rushed back into the restaurant.

“You really think he deserved that?” Edward asked as they started walking past the line (that did not diminish at all during all the time they had to wait for their food, Roy noted in his head) on their way to the park.

“It was not his fault that the owners made some bad choices and that the hostess was rude,” Roy replied. “He looked exhausted. And he took the time to bring our order to us instead of having us called to the door again. I think he deserved a few extra coins, don’t you?”

“Well… fine, yeah, alright.”

They arrived at the park after a short walk. As expected, it was almost completely empty: there were only a few people walking through the trails with their dogs. For February, the weather was nice. At least it wasn’t raining, or, worse: snowing. But it was still cold and most people preferred to stay indoors. Roy located a picnic table that was available and directed Edward towards it. Roy placed the bottle of wine on the table, and next to it the two plastic glasses that the restaurant was kind enough to include for them. Across from him, Edward took the food boxes out of the bag, looked at the contents, and pushed one of them in Roy’s direction.

Much to Roy’s surprise, the dish was plated beautifully, even inside the black plastic box. His tortellini were arranged in a stylish pile (or what would’ve been stylish if they hadn’t been swung around for five minutes). The sauce was placed neatly in a separate box. Roy took it and opened it in order to pour it over –

“What the fuck!”

The call made him stop mid-movement and look at Edward. “It isn’t what you ordered?” he asked, and then, when there was an even worse idea coming up in his head – “did you find a bug or something?”

“Shit, fuck,  _ no _ , at least not that.” Roy couldn’t help but smile at Edward’s choice of language. “It’s… I think it’s what I ordered… but…”

“But what?” Roy’s curiosity got the better of him and he leaned over the table to take a look. It was difficult to see so far with the dimmed light, coming only from the moon above them and the street light that was several meters away, even if Edward’s plate was less than a meter away from him.

But it didn’t take more than that to understand what he was so taken aback by. Inside his black plastic box there was something that Roy could only describe as a river of little white flowers; and in the middle of the river rested a single piece of what he had to assume was duck. On top of it, arranged in perfection were a dozen pomegranate grains.

“It looks beautiful to me,” Roy commented.

“Well, yeah, maybe, if I were a  _ girl _ .”

Roy chuckled. “You don’t have to be a girl to notice and appreciate beauty,” Roy said. He watched Ed giving him a look. In the dimmed orange light coming from the park’s streetlight his eyes glittered in rich gold. Maybe it was the fact that it was Valentine’s Day, or what Roy had said, or the wine they had earlier, but the thought that Edward was a stunning young man crossed Roy’s mind. It went away almost as soon as it appeared, leaving Roy surprised and confused.

He cleared his throat, pretending that there were no inappropriate thoughts in him. “Besides,” he said, “it is the flavor that matters. Shall we?” He returned his look back to his own dish. Truth be told, he was hungry: a few small pieces of cheese were not enough to hold him for long considering his last meal was at noon.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m  _ starving _ .”

Roy didn’t even notice the time passing when they had their dinner. Edward was an incredibly interesting conversation partner. Roy was surprised how easy it was to talk with him. He thought that the age difference, the difference in their characters, the fact that in the office Roy was Edward’s commanding officer – all these would make having a nice, calm and flowing conversation impossible. He was happy to be proved wrong on this, and, as he was pulling the car to a stop next to Edward’s apartment, he realized that even though this day did not start well he enjoyed this disastrous Valentine’s Day.

The meal, even though they had to have it outside, was good. Just as good as Roy had remembered, even if it had lost some of its warmth during the time it took them to walk. But Roy had then produced a small fire, and the problem was solved. With the warmth of the fire and the bottle of wine it was easy to forget about the time, and they got swept away by conversation. They talked about the food, and then about Alphonse, who apparently had been dating Winry for a while now and was talking about a proposal, which Edward wholeheartedly supported. Then they talked about what they’ve been up to since the Promised Day: Roy told Edward about his promotions, and the one he was expecting to receive soon, and the changes that had been made in Amestris since then; and Edward told Roy about his travels. He had been around a lot, seen places Roy couldn’t dream of seeing even as a Fuhrer – and some that he hoped to see, along with a team of diplomats, when he would form peace treaties. Edward told him how he learned to read the stars in Aerugo, and how he learned to speak Xignese and Cretan, and persuaded Roy (after he asked him to demonstrate some of his knowledge) to try himself – a task at which he failed miserably and made Edward laugh so loud a poor couple walking by with their dog looked at their direction with a startle.

They only realized that they should probably go back to their respective homes when all the wine was gone, and so was most of its effect. 

Roy looked at Edward as he was unbuckling his safety belt and a felt twinge of sadness in his chest. He realized that he actually had more fun tonight than he’d had at any of his dates with Charlize. She was a nice girl, and good looking, too. But she was uptight, and while she was smart, she wasn’t smart and witty like Edward was, and her knowledge was limited to the things that interested her: literature, law, and philosophy. It was good enough for him. Before he realized how much  _ more _ he could have with someone else.

With Edward.

“Well, I guess that’s where I thank you for tonight,” Edward said and brought Roy back to reality, where he and Edward were no more than colleagues; friends, if he was extremely optimistic.

“You’re welcome,” Roy replied. He was a master of masks, and he wore his  _ friend _ one now as he smiled at Edward. “I appreciate that you came with me today. It would have been a big embarrassment for me otherwise.”

“Sure thing,” Edward grinned broadly at him. “Maybe you can remember I did you this favor next time I, I don’t know, miss the deadline for a stupid report or don’t want to go somewhere far for some stupid, useless mission or another,” he winked.

“I will think about it,” Roy couldn’t help his smile broadening at this. A fracture in his mask he hoped would not be noticed. “Good night, Edward.”

Edward chuckled and opened his door. “Good night, Roy.” He got up and out of the car. He closed the door and then started walking away.

The sound of Roy’s first name – the first time Edward had used it all evening – felt like singing to his ears. Maybe it was the remaining effect of the wine, but Roy couldn’t hold himself back. He couldn’t pretend all the thoughts he had had tonight were a result of drinking too much. Wine never had too much of an effect on him, and, if he were truly honest with himself, he had thoughts like this before. Already when Edward had returned from his travels and asked for a job he had noticed he became a very attractive young man; and he knew he was smart and with broad knowledge already since he was a teenager. It might be the stupidest thing he’d ever do, but it was late on a Valentine’s Day and his inhibitions were down.

“Ed!” he called, and the younger man stopped and turned to look at him in question. “About that planetarium date you mentioned,” that made Edward step closer again and he leaned against the open window of the car.

“Mmhm?”

“Would you like to go with me to Central’s planetarium this weekend?”

He watched Edward’s eyebrow arching up. For one dreadful moment Roy was certain he was going to laugh in his face; but the stretching of his lips turned out to be just a smirk. “Sure,” he said, and Roy’s heart returned back to its rightful place in his chest. “But dinner’s on you again, yeah? You’re asking me out on a date?”

Roy smiled back at him. Trust Edward to make everything about food. “Yes, I am asking you out, I suppose. And I will buy you dinner. Would you like to choose the place?"

Edward seemed to think about it for a second. “Nuh. You choose. You have good taste. Just make sure we actually get a table this time, ‘kay? As much as it was nice having you light a fire for me and all that, I’d like to run a smaller risk of having a bug land in my food. I don’t like sharing.”

Roy’s smile turned into a chuckle. “I will keep that in mind. We’ll talk tomorrow about the time and all that?”

“Yeah, it’s getting really late. I know if I’m late too much tomorrow you’re gonna dock it from my pay,” he smiled. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Good night.”

Roy wished him a good night too, and watched him walk away again. This time his heart didn’t feel heavy. Instead, it sang in his chest. He turned the engine back on when Edward disappeared behind his door and started driving, looking at the road ahead, looking forward to tomorrow.

  
  



End file.
